We ventured up to the 39th floor this morning to find a huge buffet breakfast… most of which seemed inedible except for some hard boiled eggs and a little bacon. I actually ate a lot of bacon as I think my body feels deprived of something, not sure what at the moment, but it tasted really good.
Some of our group was up already eating and mom went over to ask if they knew what we were doing today. Neither of us really wanted to go anywhere as we both had a lot of work to do and mom wanted to work on her presentation. She was then informed that we were supposed to go to the hospital with dad and the other doctor and since we were not expecting to do that, we were not dressed for that and so mom asked if it would be okay if we could just stay home today and get some work done. Luckily they said yes, and we were very excited! We went back to the room, put on our lounging clothes and started working and catching up on emails and etc. Around 11am, mom received a bbm from dad saying that a woman doctor was going to meet us in the lobby at 11:30am to pick us up for lunch. So much for our relaxing catching up day! We rushed to get dressed in some nice clothes and met the doctor downstairs. There was a driver waiting outside and we all went to the hospital first. The entrance to the hospital was a meat curtain… or a curtain that usually you walk through to go into a refrigerator. Veryodd. However, this hospital seemed much newer than the last, though still not very sterile. We went to the 8th floor and saw dad seeing a patient while bedside teaching. We were then taken to the doctors lounge and given some tea. Before we even had a chance to drink the tea, we were asked to be in some photos and then we immediately left for lunch with about 10 other doctors (or at least I think they were doctors).
The lunch place was huge- at least four floors and we walked to the top floor to a large private room with a huge table to fit all 15 ofus. We sat on the couch in the room first and were served some tea and then our third host (there are a few hosts here and we’re not really sure who is the head guy) came in and we sat at the table. There were at least 20 dishes on the table with the lazy susan automatically moving slowly around. The food was quite good and we ate a lot. Most of it we didn’t really know what it was, but I think it’s better that way.
When we finished we drove back to the hotel and were able to relax for a few hours until we were meeting our hosts again for dinner. Dad bbm’ed us around 5:15pm and said that we were getting picked up at 6pm for dinner. At 5:55pm, he calls and says to hurry up, that everyone is waiting for us. So we rush downstairs, mom finishing getting ready in the elevator (we had 21 floors to descend so she had about 15 seconds). Dad is standing in the lobby by himself waiting for us… there was a car outside with the other doctor and one of the hosts waiting for us. (it didn’t seem like a lot of people… just the three of them!). We started driving and we find out we are going to the Three Gorges University here which we come to find out are the people who have sponsored our trip here. It’s a good thing we are so well informed beforehand. This University was huge- about 30,000 students and there were so many huge buildings. It was very nice to drive on a campus here and see the vitality and the well educated people. We arrive at the campus hotel and walk upstairs to a private room where there are 4 tables and we see the rest of the art group that we are with and all the other big wigs here, including the dean. It seemed like there were a lot of deans, but there was one head guy and they all seemed nice. Then they started telling us where to sit and they said that there will be a male table and a female table… the males drink alcohol and the females do not.
We were a bit in shock that this occurred at an educated university. We were offered milk or orange juice… what are we, little kids?! Well maybe they also thought I was 5! But it wasn’t just me- it was 15 adult women, most in their 50’s. The dinner was okay, a lot of toasting as with every sip of orange juice you have to make a toast in order to drink. Mom and I had bottle water that we were toasting with. The food at lunch was much better, but it was still okay. At the end of the meal, all the females became quiet when the dean started talking at the other table in Chinese and they whispered to me that the men were talking about my dad and me. Of course I had no idea what they were talking about. And then everyone started oo-ing and ahh-ing and mom and I were both looking at each other wondering what was going on. Well the dean starts talking in English to us and says that they would like to have dad return as a visiting professor for 2 months and they would like to offer me a full scholarship to return with him to study the language and the culture. I was very honored and thanked them for the opportunity. (in my head though I was wondering if they thought I was still in college). Well apparently my head was right as I seem to look young. After the dinner, there was a presentation of gifts to everyone and then one of the dean’s walked us out. We talked more about the opportunity and he did think that I was still studying in school, but I then mentioned that I teach college level classes and that I had my own company and the dean inquired more so I talked about photography with him. He got so excited because he is a photographer and quite a good one as he showed me some nice shots from his iphone. So he suggested I still come back and teach and learn Chinese! So it seems that dad and I, and mom, if we say yes will be coming back here. And I hope we do, because this is a nice city and I would like to see more of it. That was the end of our evening and we returned back to the hotel.
The one thing I cannot get used to is all the honking-constantly. We are on the 21st floor of this hotel and there is a constant honking noise outside. It’s late here as I’m writing this post and the honking is still blaring.
I forgot to mention that we sent some clothes off to get washed today and here is how they returned to us, nicely washed!
We are going on a boat for the next 3 days, so there may be a lapse of blog posts for a few days until we get back to shore. So stay tuned!
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